Hot Topics:

Boulder County weighs future of popular Sherwood Gulch Trail near Nederland

Trails group hopes to maintain and preserve decades-old path

By Ryan Pinkard For the Camera

Posted:
07/20/2013 12:15:18 PM MDT

Updated:
07/20/2013 12:20:43 PM MDT

Nederland s Topher Donahue, who supports keeping the Sherwood Gulch Trail open to mountain biking, filmed this video of himself riding the trail near Nederland. Boulder County, which recently bought the land, is considering closing the trail.

Sherwood Gulch Trail, a beloved, decades-old path for hikers, horseback riders and mountain-bike aficionados near Nederland, is in limbo as officials with Boulder County Parks and Open Space decide how it will be used in the future following a recent public land acquisition.

The trail runs through a 176.5-acre parcel of land north of Nederland that Boulder County purchased from Jim Guercio in May for $2 million, and is immediately west of Mud Lake Open Space. While the land was privately owned, the family did nothing to keep people off the trail, which has been used and maintained for at least 30 years.

Sherwood Gulch is heralded by locals and county officials alike as a unique and beautiful area with Aspen-studded meadows, and lush flora and fauna.

Stephanie Herring, of Nederland, takes a pre-work lap on the Sherwood Gulch Trail on Friday. Boulder County recently purchased much of the land that the trial runs through as open space, and is considering what to do with the popular path. (Photo courtesy Topher Donahue / topherdonahue.com )

"It's the coolest mile-and-a-half of single track in Boulder County," said Josh Harrod, president of the Nederland Area Trails Organization.

Justin Atherton-Wood, a resource planner for Boulder County Parks and Open Space, said the county is mediating three interests in deciding how to manage its newly acquired land: recreational use, natural resources and neighboring private property.

For the same reason users find the trail so special, open space officials are concerned about protecting the area.

"It's a dense habitat for wildlife, including a diversity of birds and even some moose," Atherton-Wood said.

The relatively narrow gulch is considered a riparian zone, an ecosystem based around the presence of Sherwood Creek, which the trail parallels.

'Deserves a unique approach'

An assessment of the land will be underway in the coming months to study the ecosystem and the potential impact of the trail's use.

While the county normally would close Sherwood Gulch in this situation -- potentially for years while a management plan could be designed -- the trail currently remains open since it already has been well-established and used by the public, officials said.

Harrod said the ideal situation would be for the trail to remain the same and to allocate responsibility for maintenance to the Nederland Area Trails Organization.

"They seem to appreciate that this is a unique situation that deserves a unique approach," he said of Boulder County. "What we don't want is for it to become like every other multi-use trail in the county that is big enough to drive a golf cart on."

Even if the area is deemed able to handle the human impact, issues of private property remain.

As it exists now, the trail crosses onto an adjacent property to the west for about a quarter of a mile, roughly a third of its full length, according to Atherton-Wood. While the county is in preliminary discussions with that property's owner about purchasing it, Atherton-Wood said it is problematic for a public agency to condone what is essentially trespassing by "dead-ending" a public trail that visibly continues onto private land.

A potential solution being considered is to reroute the section in question, or to close the trail completely and build a new one that doesn't encroach on delicate areas or private land.

While Harrod said a partial reroute could lead to appealing new opportunities for the trail, a full closure is out of the question for community members.

"If they move it outside of the (riparian zone)," Nederland resident Topher Donahue said, "it will be just like any other trail instead of the special path it is."

'The trail is really special'

On top of all other issues looms the fear that designating Sherwood Gulch as an official county trail will change how heavily it's used and who uses it.

"This is a double-edged sword," said Eric Hozempa, a member of the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee, according to minutes from a June 27 meeting. "It's great that the county purchased it, but as a resident, this was our playground. By purchasing it, you will change it.

"Growing up in Boulder, I had Wonderland Lake all to myself because there was nothing around it; then they started building homes around it. It makes me sad because Sherwood Gulch will change. The county and the community should work together to come up with some unique solutions."

Harrod said the trail is no longer a secret, and the 750 supporters -- so far -- of a petition to keep the trail open to hikers, equestrians and cyclists is a testament to that.

"This trail is really special to the people of Nederland," Boulder County's Atherton-Wood said. "We are looking forward to working with the community of neighbors and trail users to identify sustainable use of the property over the coming months."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story